“If the Israeli Governments want to be free of the pressure of boycott, divestment and sanctions and international censure the answer is simple – end your illegal occupation and abide by international law.”

An ultra Orthodox Jew holds a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel’s air strikes on Gaza in London, July 11.An ultra Orthodox Jew holds a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel’s air strikes on Gaza in London, July 11.

London, United Kingdom – On February 14th, 2016, the UK Government announced that it would be setting up guidelines to prevent public bodies from supporting the Palestinian rights through their procurement and investment policies.

Hugh Lanning, Chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, has condemned this move as ‘a gross attack on our democratic freedoms and the independence of public bodies from Government interference’:

“As if it is not enough that the UK Government has failed to act when the Israeli Government has bombed and killed thousands of Palestinian civilians and stolen their homes and land, the Government are now trying to impose their inaction on all other democratic and public bodies.”

Sara Apps, interim Director of Palestine Solidarity said, according to the PNN:

“People around the world have been asked by the Palestinian people to support boycott, divestment and sanctions because it is a peaceful and effective way to challenge and pressure the Israeli Government to end their violations.

This makes it clear where this Government stands on international law and human rights. Despite the Government admitting that Israel’s occupation and denial of Palestinian rights is plain wrong and illegal – when it comes to it they will insulate Israel from the consequences of its own actions. It seems that for this UK Government, whatever crimes against international law Israel commits, having a military ally trumps the rights of their own citizens and institutions in this country to support human rights.”

If the Israeli Governments want to be free of the pressure of boycott, divestment and sanctions and international censure the answer is simple – end your illegal occupation and abide by international law.

It is shameful that our Government is prepared to side with an oppressive state over the rights of an oppressed people in this way. We urge people to support our campaign to change Government policy and support the rights of their citizens to act against human rights violations.

The West has more to do with the Hong Kong protest movement than it would like us to know. It’s the ugly face of Washington’s long-standing foreign policy directed at destabilizing one of its long-standing economic foes: China.

The same media that has spent years dragging Assange’s name through the mud is now engaging in a blackout on his treatment. If you are waiting for corporate media pundits to defend freedom of the press, you’re going to be disappointed.

Think about who gets rich off of the Venezuela regime-change agenda. It’s the same people that said we had to invade Iraq in order to prevent nuclear apocalypse. It’s the same people who said the world would stop turning on its axis if we didn’t carpet bomb Libya and Syria.